Badlands of South Dakota National Park
Badlands of South Dakota
We really had no idea what to expect when we planned to visit the Badlands of South Dakota National Park. We planned to spend less than a day in the park--knowing that that was probably too little. But something had to give to keep the trip down three weeks.
When we arrived in the afernoon, the weather was a mix of sunshine, clouds, and drizzle. The constanlly varying weather meant that the light on the Badlands was also constantly changing. The changing light meant that the colors also changed. Adding to the changing colors was the fact that we stayed until dark, so we got the late afternoon light. At times the colors were drab and at other times they were almost too vivid to seem real. Amazing what changing light can do.
The Badlands is Prairie--in fact it is the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. The contast between the flat prairies and the eroded buttes with their spires and pinnacles is amazing. We were blowen away by the beauty of the place and realzied that we had allocated way too little time for our visit. All we could do was stay until it got too dark to see anything.
We were a bit concerned when we saw a sign saying be aware of rattle snakes on one of the short hikes we took. But we didn't see any snakes.
